Means for operating furrow-openers of seeding-machines.



H. F. DBTERDING. MEANS FOR OPERATING FURROW OPENERS 0F SEEDING MACHINES.

jzyw zamk'i APPLICATION FILED AUG. 12, 1907.

gxshm H.'F. DETERDING. MEANS FOR OPERATING FURBOW OPENERS 0F SEEDINGMACHINES.

APPLIUATIOH FILED AUG. 12, 1907.

Patentd Feb. 16, 1909.

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4% V A m H. F. DETBRDING. MEANS m OPERATING PUBBOW OPENERS or SEEDINGMACHINES.

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Patehted Feb. 16, 1909.

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APPLICATION FILED AUG. 12, 1907.

II in 5E mwww UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

HENRY F. FETERDING, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

nuts FOB UPERATING- FUBROW-OPENERS OIF-SEEDING- KACMS.

ism-012,827.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented-Feb. 16,1909.

Application filed August 12, 1907. Serial No. 388,110.

.useful Improvements in Means for Operating Furrow-O en'ers ofSeeding-Machines, of which the ollowing is a full, clear, and

exact description, reference being had t'othe accompailiging drawings,forming part of this-spec catlon.

My invention relates to mechanism whereby the furrow openers of seedingmachines unay be automatically lowered to and into the ground andelevated from the ground through the medium of the draft tongue of theseeding machine, and also to means associated with the first mentionedmeans,

whereby the furrow opener may be menu all 'lowered and raised.

eatures of construction shown and described in this application areclaimed in a co-pending application Serial Number 397,356,.filed October14;, 1907, a renewal of application Serial N umber 337,267, filedOctober 3, 1906.

Figure I is a side elevation of my furrow opener actuatin r means withthe frame ,of the seeding mac iine shown in verticallongitudinalsection. FigrII is a rear elevation ofthe central portion ofthe rock shaft mounted in the frame of the seeding mav chine and themembers supported by this .rockshaft. -Fig. III is an enlarged tdip r orplan view of the rear end of .the aft tongue of the machine and the,parts that coiiperatewith said tongue. -Fig. IV is a side elevationofthetongue and parts shown .in -F i III; Fig. V is asimilar view to 40.

Fig. II with the tongue and -parts cotiperab o with it illustrated inpositions assumed, when said tongue has been moved forwardly from theposition shown in Fig. III. Fig.

V1 is a vertical cross section taken on line VIVI, Fig. V. Fig. VII is avertical cross section taken on line VIIVII, Fig. V. In the accompanyingdrawings: 1 designates'one of a pair of ground wheels of a seedingmachine, and 2 the axle that is mounted in'said wheels, The axlesupports a frame which includes longitudinal members 3, a transversebeam 4 located intermediate-of the forward and rear; ends of thelongitudinal-members and the forward tie bar dwhich-rinitessaidlongitudinal members. 6 arehangerarmsprojecting downwardly 8 is a furrowopener, the forward endof. which is connected'by draw links 9 to thehanger bar 7 through the medium of a consnection block 10' fixed to saidbar. The furrow opener sup orts a seed chute 1-1 into which grain.isthrough a tube 12. llhe seed box 13 hasthe utility, in addition :toits service as-a eont'ainer for seed, of serving as'a seat for theoperator of the machine while driving the team by which theseedingimachine is drawn over the ground in which seed is to be planted.

1 1. designates a draft tongue, to the rear portion of which is secureda pair-of side bars 15, which terminates beyond the rear end of the onno, as seen most clearly in Figs. HIv and 16 are a pair of connectingbarsthat are pivotally. united at their forward ends to the rear ends ofthe side bars-15 byfia coupling bolt 17 The connection bars ere alsounited to, a member to be hereinafter more particularly referred to. Toprovide-for the t raft tongue being susceptible of a forward andrearward movement relative to the frame of the seeding machine, saidtongue is supported .b s pair of -U-shape' rocker members 18'ari--19,-both-of;which-have arms that embrace the draft tongue as clearly.shown in Figs. V to VI inclusive. Th rocker member 18 is provided withintles 20 which are loosely mounted in brac ets 21 secured to thecrossbe'am 4 of theframe'of the seeding machine, and the arms-of thisrocker memberare loosely connected to the draft tongue by a pivot bolt22 which-extends through the arms of the draft tongue and which isprovided ,at one end with-a stem 23 that is of service in a manner'to behereinafter ex lained. The rocker member 19- is provide with pintles 19that are loosely mounted in brackets 24: secured to the tie bar 5 of theseeding machine frame, and the arms. of this rocker -member arepivotallyconnected to the draft tongue by a pivot bolt 25.- It will beseen from the foregoing description, that the draft-tongue is so suported by the rockermembers-18 and 19 t at it is susceptible of forwardand rearward movement when it is drawn forwardlyby a team of draftanimals-hitched 'oppcd from a seed box 13 animals are backed relativeto. the seeding machine.

26 cles1gnates a rock shaft that is loosely mounted in the rear portionof the side memthe furrow opener, as-seen in Figs. I and V. 3'

29 designates a segmental ratchet rack which is provided with a seriesof ratchet teeth 30 located at the edge of the rack and extendingfearwardly from its rearend and also with a notch 31, located near theforward end of' the rack in the edge thereof. The ratchet rack issecured to the rock shaft 26 by a clip member 32 formed integral withthe rack and a clip member 33 which opposes the clip member 32 and :isunited to it by bolts 34 which serve to hold the ratchet rack in a rigidposition upon the rock shaft 26.

35 is an-arm extending downwardly-from the clip member 33, as seen inFigs. I and IV. 36 is a hand lever fixed to the ratchet rack 29 and towhich is pivoted a grip arm 37 that has united to it a pull rod 38,having a function to. be hereinafter mentioned. I

The draft tongue 14 is pivotally connected at 39 to the ratchet rack 29by means of a bolt which passes through the rear end of the connectingbars 16 and said ratchet rack, It

will be readily understood that when the ratchet rack is in a freecondition-and the draft tongueis in a rear-positiomas illustrated inFig. IV, a pull may be exerted upon the draft tongue that will cause itto be drawn forwardly to exert a pull upon the ratchet rack and rotatethe rock shaft 26 in a forward. direction with the result of causing thearm 2?.to be moved downwardly and act to lower the furrow opener 8 thatis connected to said arm to and into the ground. It will also beunderstood that when the draft tongue is moved rearwardly, it will actupon the ratchet rack and by rotating therock' shaft in a backwarddirection cause the furrow npener to be lifted from the ground.

The ratchet rack 29 is controlled by means which will now be described.40 is a double arm pawl member that is pivotedat 41 to a bracket 42secured to the frame of the seeding machine at a point in front of theratchet rack. This pawl member is provided with an upwardly extendingpawl 43, having a tooth 44 that is adapted to engage the teeth 30 of theratchet rack, and to enter the notch 31 in said rack, as illustrated inFigs. 1 and IV. The pawl member 40 has a'iower arm 45 which extendsrarwardly to a position beneath the rock shaft 26. 46

is a hand lever pivotally mounted in a bracket strap 47 fixed to thedraft tongue 14 and pivoted at 48 to the frame of the seeding machine,as seen in Fig. I. The

rass? to which is attached a pull rod 50 that leads to a chain 51 whichpasses around a sheave 52 (see Figs. I and VII) supported by the handlever 46 and which is united to a connecting rod 53 that leads tothepawl arm 43. lVhen the handle of the hand lever 46 is grasped by theoperator of the seeding machine while riding upon the machine and thegrip arm 49 is moved to said handle, the pawl '43 is released from theratchet rack 29 so that said ratchet rack is freed, and the draft tongueis rendered serviceable for'the lowering or lifting of the furrowopenerin the manner previously stated. In the actuation of the pawlmember 40 to move the pawl 43 out of engagement with the ratchet rack,the lower arm 45 of said pawl member. serves to limit the degree ofmovement of said pawl member, due to its.risinginto con tact with therock shaft 26. It should be here noted that the pawl 43 actsby'engagement with the teeth 30 of the ratchet rack to restrain saidrack from m'ovement when the furrow opener has been lowered into theground to the desired depth. The pawl also acts to hold the rack barfrom movement when the furrow opener is in an elevated position and outof service, the engagement between the pawl and rack at this time beingaccomplished by the entrance of the tooth of the pawl into the notch 31in the rack. The hand lever 36 serves as a means for actuating the pawlmember 40, when the operator of the machine is walking upon the; groundat the rear of the machine, in

order that the draft tongue maybe brought into operation for furrowopener lowering and lifting action, and the actuation of the pawl memberin this instance is accomplished through the medium of the grip arm 37and connecting rod 38 carriedby said hand lever and a connecting chain54 that unites said connecting rod to the lower arm 45 of the pawlmember. 55 is a retracting spring that connects the pawl member 40 tothe frame of the seeding machine and through the medium of which thepawl arm of said'member is maintained in engagement with the ratchetrack 29 when the pawl member is at rest. 56 designates an assistancespring that is connected to the draft tongue 14 by an eye bolt 57 seatedin said tongue and by a link 58 to the arm 35 that is associated withthe ratchet rack 29.

This spring serves as a means for actuating the ratchet rack inconnection with the draft tongue and the other parts associatedtherewith, in order that the furrow opener may be more readily elevatedfrom the ground.-

The hand levers 36 and 46 serve as means ing the ratchet rack in acorresponding direction and raising the furrow opener during therearward rotation of the rock shaft 26. The pawl arm 43 is then releasedand its tooth 44 engages in the notch 31 of the ratchet rack and acts tohold said rack from movement, and the furrow opener in its upliftedposition. When the operator is walk ing upon the ground and desires toelevate the furrow opener, he grasps the handle of the hand lever 36 andthe griparm 37, thereby releasing the pawl 43 from the ratchet rack 9.9,after which he imparts a downward pull to said hand lever. and therebymoves the ratchet rack rearwardly until the furrow opener is elevated,after which the pawl arm is released toengage the-ratchet rack in amanner previously stated. When the operator has moved the hand lever 36to the osition in which it appears in full lines,

*ig. IV, the furrow opener is in elevated position. \Vhen said handlever is moved to the position seen in full lines, Fig. I, the furrowopener is in lowered position and rests upon the ground. When the handlever is in the position indicated in dotted lines, Fig. IV, the furrowopener is in the position assumed after it has been forced into theground during seed planting operation.

For the purpose of restricting the degree of movement of the drafttongue, and consequently the degrees of movement of the ratchet rack andthe. other parts associated with, and having connection to said ratchetrack, including the furrow opener, I utilize a gage bar 59 that isloosely fitted to one of the pintles of the forward rocker member 19 bywhich the draft tongue 14 is supported. This gage bar extends rearwardlyfrom its point of attachment just mentioned and it is provided at itsrear end with a hook (it) and contains a plurality of pin holes 61, seenin dotted lines Fig. I, which are located intermediate of the ends ofthe bar. 62 is a catch movably mounted on the gage bar and providedatits rear end with a finger 63. This catchis adjustably held to thegage bar by a pin or bolt 64 thatis inserted into the I catch and intoeither of the pin holes in said gage bar. The rear portion of the gagebar 59 rests upon the stem 28 of the pivot bolt 22 which connects therocker member 18 to the draft tongue. \Vhen the draft tongue is drawnforwardly in the act of lowering the furrow opener to and into theground, the catch 62 serves as a means for restricting the degree offorward movement of said tongue and consequently the de ree to which thefurrow opener is lowered,,t is beingdue tothe stem 23 coming in contactwith the finger of the catch 62. It will be seen that due to the catchbeing adjustably mounted upon the gage bar, the depth to which thefurrow opener is caused to enter the ground may be varied, as may bedesired. The hook at the rear end of the gage bar serves as a means forlimitingthe degree of rearward movement of the draft tongue, due to thestem 23 coming in contact with said hook, when the draft tongue is movedrearwardly. to the proper extent.

I claim:

1. The combination with a seeding machine including a frame and a furrowopener, of a draft tongue movably supported by said frame and havingconnection with said furrow opener, and a gage device for restrictingthe degree of movement of said tongue, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination with a seedin chine, including a frame and a opener,of a draft tongue movably supported by said frame and having connectionwith said furrow opener, and. a gage device for restricting the degreeof movement of said tongue; said gage device being provided with anadjustable member, substantially as set forth. I I

3. The combination with a seeding machine including a frame and a furrowopener, of a rock shaft loosely fitted to said frame and havingconnection with said furrow opener, a ratchet rack fixed to said shaft,a draft tongue movably supported by said frame and. having connectionwith said ratchet rack, and apawl supported by said frame arranged forengagement with said ratchet-rack and adapted to hold the rack frommovement after it has been actuated to move said furrow opener,substantially as set forth.

4. The combination with a seeding machine including a frame and a furrowopener, of a rock shaft loosely mounted in said frame, a ratchet. rackfixed to said shaft and havin connection with said furrow opener, acraft tongue movably supported by said frame and having connection withsaid ratchet rack, and a double arm pawl supported by said frame forcontrolling said ratchet rack, one arm of said pawl being adapted toengage said rack and the other arm being adapted to serve as a stop forthe pawl, and means for actuating said pawl. substantially as set forth.

Bmwcnn HOGAN, WM. H. Soon.

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